Virginia MacNaughton – The Thread
Virginia MacNaughton releases an album of heartbreak and tragedy and coming out better, The Thread.
The Thread includes the double single “Wolf Moon/The Thread.”
The Thread is a beautiful and passionate record which through flowing vocal melodies, piano, bold progressive choruses and rich orchestration, charts the story of a destructive relationship and the salvation of new love. Reminiscent of Lorde, Carole King, and Aerial-era Kate Bush, it is an album of heartbreak, clarity and beauty, yet also cut through with wry wordplay and humour.
The album was written and arranged by Virginia alongside platinum-selling producer William Jackson (The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs, Kaiser Chiefs) at Eiger Studios, Leeds.
Work started on The Thread in October 2020, after the end of a brief relationship that had a profound impact and sparked the inspiration for the record. Virginia thought the woman she met was the one, but after weeks of romance she was cruelly rejected and left devastated.
In an attempt to make sense of it all, she sat at the piano and poured her feelings into the new album. The result is a delightfully expansive record, from the majestic soaring opener ‘Gravity’ to 70s pop soul in ‘The Morning’, swooning jazz of ‘Wolf Moon’ and beautiful ballads such as found in ‘The Kestrel’, the sounds reflect the push and pull of love, heartbreak and healing.
By 2021 The Thread was nearly finished, but before the album was complete, life intervened. Virginia’s beloved father died, and then, after four and a half glorious years together, she lost her wife who died in the spring of 2025.
The Thread now resumes its journey and is released in February 2026. “I had to complete the circle,” says Virginia. “The Bach prelude at the end of the album marks the memory of my dad – a piece he played all his life, Bach was his great love, and he taught me to play the prelude as a child.” The photograph on the album cover is of Virginia aged two, with her Dad and sister. He passed down to her a love of melody and musical knowledge – a well of experience she drew from to create this album about moving from destructive obsession to enduring love.
The Thread is a full circle record for Virginia, her wife was adamant that she finish the album, while the Bach prelude ‘Prelude In C’ closes the album in tribute to her Dad, who played it regularly to Virginia since she was first born and taught her to play it on the piano. The photograph on the album cover is of Virginia aged two, with her Dad and older sister.
For a record shrouded by such immense heartache, by contrast it is sonically immensely uplifting as The Thread plays out a true reflection of the turbulent emotive experience of life. It encapsulates our uncontrollable urges, the carefree will to wholeheartedly follow joy, the resilience to withstand unfathomable trauma and the long winding road to recovery and healing.
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